kershaw



N0 6H,257. Patented Sept. 27, I898. J. KEBSHAW.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PILE 0F VELVETS, 81.0.

Application filed Sept. 11, 1897.)

3' Sheets-Shoat I.

(No Model.)

I I W H HWLI WI Patented Sept. 27, I898. J. KEBSHAW.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PILE 0F VELVETS, &c.

(Application filed Sept. 11, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

lml

Patented Sept. 27, I898.

J. KERSHAW. APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PILE 0F VELVETS, 8w.

(Application filed Sapt. 11, 1897.)

3. Sheets-Sheet 3.

(No Model.)

NTTED STATES PATENT Fricn.

JOHN KERSHAW, OF HEBDEN BRIDGE, ENGLAND.

APPARATUS FOR CUTTING PILE OF VELVETS, 800.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 61 1,257, dated September 27, 1898. Application filed September 11, 1897. 7 Serial No. 651,356. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN KERSHAW, a subj ect of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Hebden Bridge, in the county of York, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting the Pile of Cords, Velvets, and other Weft Pile Fabrics, of which the following is a specification.

The improvements relate to apparatus for cutting the pile of cords, velvets, and other weft pile fabrics, and have for their object the attainment of this end by automatic means wholly or partially when the fabric is stretched upon or in a frame and in manner hereinafter to be described. To accomplish this and to effect my improvements, I employ in the first instance a frame or ends of such of a similar character to what is used in hand-cutting and of such length as maybe found most convenient and economical, and in or upon which the cloth to be cut is stretched to the requisite degree of tightness. On each side of this stretched cloth I provide longitudinal rails or slides upon orconstituting part of the main framing of the apparatus forming the present invention, and upon which rails there runs or slides to and fro a traveling frame or knife-carrier. Upon a sleeve on a cross shaft or rod in this frame the cutting-knife handles are mounted as on a fulcrum, with a portion of them projecting behind, thus putting such knife handles or holders in balance, or nearly so. The cross shaft or rod aforesaid is formed as a screw, and the sleeve, or it may be sleeves,

is or are provided with screwed threads or nuts in such mannerthat when the screwshaft is turned lateral motion will be given to the fulcrums of the knife-handles. Motion of an intermittent character is given to this screw-shaft by a ratchet and pawl at one end thereof, and the lever of the pawl may thus give the slight amount of turn requisite by coming against a stop each time the frame arrives at the setting-in end, whereby the knives are moved laterally the distance of one race at a time, and in the case of cords automatic setting-in may be effected. Another transverse screw-shaft is geared to the first, so as to take the same amount of motion, which second screw-shaftactuates a fork for each knife-holder arranged at'the front end traverse of the long knife-holders is the same at the front as at the back end. These forks, however, are only put into gear for this purpose d uring each new setting-in and are lifted out of gear automatically during the run of the knife-frame to allow of the point end of the knife following any deviations there may be from a straight course. The cuttingknives proper are also mounted on swivels or fulcrums at the front end of the knife holders and are held in the cutting position by means of a catch arranged to operate at the back portion of the knife proper. Around each knife-fulcrum is arranged a light cylinder, mounted eccentrically, and on the face thereof are provided spikes or projections capable when coming in contact with the face of the cloth of causing the eccentric cylinders to turn, and thus to raise the fulcrums of the swivel cutting-knives. This occurs when a knife penetrates the cloth from any cause,

and at the same time by means-0f a small lever-arm upon the turning-fulcrum and a light link-rod connecting the same to the catchlever at the back portion aforesaid the knife is released and is free to swivel or turn over at the same time as it is lifted up, and so avoids doing serious damage to the cloth. The back end of. the long fulcrumed knifeholder is by this same action depressed and thus can come in contact with a cross-bar in connection with the strap-fork and thereby throw ofi the driving-strap of the machine on arrival of the carriage at the setting in end. Means are provided for preventing any particular knifefrom stopping the machine or from operating tov cut when desired.

In front of the traveling knife-points and just in advance thereof is a cross rest or roller underneath the cloth, while another such roller is placed immediately behind such traveling knife-points, by which means the cloth is kept tight and level at the portion being cut.

Motion is given to the traveling carriage by an endless belt or band passing over the driving-pulley at one end and overa loose pulley at the other end, and to which band is attached a stud, and which stud takesintoiaslot in a pendent arm attached to the traveling frame, by which means the belt is continuously traveling in one direction and yet gives the requisite to-and-fro motion to the traveling knifecarriage.

That the improvements may be better understood I will, with the aid of the accompanying drawings, proceed more fully to describe means employed by me.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 plan view, of pile-cutting apparatus arranged in accordance with my improvements. Fig. 3 is a cross-section on a line passing through the middle portion of the traveling frame or knife-carrier shown in Figs. 1 and 2; and Fig. 5 is an end elevation, partly in section, of such traveling frame or knifecarrier, while Figs. 4c and 6 are side views of portions of the carrier and correspond to Figs. 3 and 5, respectively. Fig. 7 is a side elevation, and Fig. 8 a plan view, of'a cutting-knife and holder constructed according to my invention; and Fig. 9 is a plan View, with parts in section, of the front end of such knife and holder on an enlarged scale, while Fig. 10 shows a side elevation of a portion of such knife and holder end when in a certain position to be hereinafter described.

The same letters indicate corresponding parts wherever they occur.

The frame ends, upon which the cloth a is st retched, are not shown, as they form no part of my present invention.

Z) are the longitudinal rails on each side of the cloth a, which rails in the example shown constitute part of the main framing of the apparatus and are supported by uprights b.

The traveling knife-carrier is constructed upon frames or side pieces c,which are mounted upon rollers d d, running on the rails Z). Supplementary side rollers to insure the guidance of the carriage along the rails are shown at e e.

f g are screws journaled in the side pieces 0 and taking into sleeves h j, which are attached to connections 72/], riding upon the upper rods k Z. Thus on the rotation of the screws f 9 such sleeves hj are caused to traverse, as will be well understood.

Each cutting knife holder M is loosely mounted at m between the bosses 71. upon the sleeve 72-, which bosses are formed so as to afford adequate lateral support without interfering with the free play of the knife.

Traverse of the fore part m of the knifeholders M is effected by the forked piece 3' which hangs from the sleeve and moves therewith. This forked piece 7' is, however, lifted out of gear after each setting-in by the rod a, which is attached to the bar Z and passes through the slotted projectionj on the forkpiece 7' Motion for this purpose is given to the bar Z at the proper time through the lever 0, which comes in contact with the cam or projection 19 on the rail 12, as indicated in Fig. 2. A similar cam p is provided to throw the forks into gear again during the backward stroke of the knife-carriage.

Simultaneous movement of the two screwshafts f and g is obtained by any suitable gearing, such as q. Attached to the shaft g is a ratchet-wheel r, actuated by pawls s, s", or 5 upon a disk .9, which is mounted loosely upon the shaft g. To this disk is connected a rigid arm or lever s, which when the carriage arrives at the proper position for traverse to take place comes against a projection-such as I), Figs. 1 and 2 on the main framing of the apparatus or elsewhere,whereby such arm is moved the requisite distance, thus turning the disk 5 and also through one of the pawls the ratchet-wheel 0', thereby actuating the screws f and g the required amount for traverse of the knife-holders from one race to another. As the lever s retires from contact with the projection b a spring 6 brings the pawl-disk 5 back to its former position against a limiting-stop 15, connected to the side piece 0 of the carriage.

I prefer to employ more than one pawl for the ratchet r in order that the ratchet and pawl may be in gear as nearly as possible from the exact commencement of each stroke, and thus to insure more perfect uniformity in the extent of traverse.

a c are rollers mounted so as to be capable of turning in hearings or supports in or on the side pieces 0 of the carriage, which rollers press upon the under side of the cloth a in front and in rear, respectively, of the points of the cutting-knives. By this means a tight and level surface of cloth is presented to the knives, and more perfect cutting is insured.

The traveling carriage receives motion from the main shaft 10 through the gearing w and the traveling band y, running over pulleys y and 1 A stud 2, attached to the band y, engages loosely with a slotted arm .2, which is connected to the carriage, and such stud as it passes to and fro around the pulleys of necessity imparts a reciprocal motion to the carriage, the slot in the arm permitting of the vertical movement of the stud at each extremity of travel.

The cutting-knife holders M are formed at the part 1% with a considerable vertical surface to prevent lateral tilting when loosely mounted upon the sleeve h and between the supports 71?, as indicated in Figs. 7 and 8.

The arm m terminates in a forked piece m at the extremity of which is a cross-spindle m to which is attached an eccentricallymounted cylinder m, having spikes or projections m thereon. A screw-threaded bushing on on the spindle m carries a nut m which is capable of nipping between itself and the bush m the knife proper, m The spindle m is capable of turning in the extremities of the forked piece m and carries a crank m, which is connected by link on to a similar crank m attached to a spindle m at the back of the fork m To this spindle m is connected a small catch m which normally rests upon the back end of the knife proper, m but when the knife-point penetrates the cloth from any cause the spikes m of the cylinder m come in contact with the surface of the cloth, and the cylinder is moved around by the forward motion of the knife, whereby the spindle m is turned, and the crank connections m m and m consequently move the spindle m to a corresponding degree, and the catch an is forced from above the knife m which is then free to be turned by the forward motion of the apparatus into the position shown in Fig. 10, and thence to a position clear of and above the cloth. A spring or elastic m, held at either or both ends and depressed by the knife proper when in the cutting position, may be employed to insure the ready turn over of the knife m on release of the catch m and a ratchet and pawl m prevent the knife m from turning back automatically on the motion of the knife-carriage I being reversed.

in what manner the same is to be The eccentric form of the cylinder m causes the cutting end of the knife-holder to be raised as the knife m is turned over, as shown in Fig. 10, and in consequence the back arm m is correspondingly depressed.

On the knife carriage reaching the extremity of its backward travel the pivoted end m of each knife-arm m normally passes above the cross-bar b Figs. 1 and 2; but when the knife-arm m is depressed, as described, the end an comes in contact with such cross-bar b and forces back the same, lifting one arm of a bell-crank lever b from engagement with the strap-fork bar 6 and allowing the spring 19 to pull the strap-fork onto the loose pulley,and so stop the machine.

Whenit is desired to leave one of the knives out of action, the cutting end is suitably suspended free of the cloth from any convenient upper part of the carriage by cord, hook, or otherwise, and the swiveled end m is thrown back upon the arm m to prevent its coming in contact with the bar 19 Variations in detail may be made-such as in the design, dimensions, and material of the various parts-without departing from the peculiar character of the invention.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In apparatus for cutting the pile of cords, velvets, and other weft pile fabrics, the combination of a reciprocating knife-carriage, wheels d, d on which it is mounted, rails 12 on which the said wheels run, with cuttingknives M pivoted at m connections 71 on each side of such pivot, sleeve h carrying such side connections, shaft f carrying such sleeve, said shaft being supported by the main framing of the carriage, together with the means for reciprocating such carriage, for the purpose and in manner substantially as herein set forth and shown in the drawings.

2. In apparatus for cutting the pile of cords, velvets, and other weft pile fabrics, the combination of the knife-carriage, and the knives M, with rods 76, Z, connections h, j sliding thereon, sleeves h, j, carrying such connections, bosses h and forked piece j carried by such sleeves, the screws f, g by which the said sleeves are moved, gearing q for forming a connection between the before-named screws, ratchet-wheel 'r' attached to the end of one of the screws, pawls s, s s acting upon such ratchet-wheel, plate 8 carrying such pawls, leg extension .9 from such plate, stop b which, by contact, moves the said leg extension, all for the purpose and in manner substantially as herein set forth.

3. In apparatus for cutting the pile of cords, velvets, and other weft pile fabrics, the combination of the traveling knife-carriage, and the knives M, with the screw g, the sleeve j carried thereby, forked piece 9' carried by such sleeve, projection j forming part of such forked piece, rod n passing through such projection, rod Z supporting rod 11, lever 0 attached to rod Z, cams p and p with which the said lever comes in contact and whereby it is moved, together with the means for recipro cating the knife-carriage, for the purpose and in manner substantially as herein set forth and shown in the drawings.

4:. In apparatus for cutting the pile of cords, velvets, and other weft pile fabrics, a knife M with vertical surface 071, in combination with the spiked cylinder m knife m passing through such cylinder, spindle m on which the said cylinder is eccentrically mounted, arms m carrying such spindle, crank m link m crank m, spindle m and catch mm attached to such spindle, all forming a connected system for the purpose and in manner substantially as herein set forth.

JOHN KERSHAW.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM GADD, GEORGE FREDERICK GADD. 

